In one embodiment, the valves are used in municipal water and wastewater systems. The valves can be installed underground or above ground, in a water or wastewater treatment plant. In addition, the invention can be used in applications other than the municipal industry, where it is likewise desirable to know the position of a valve.
For underground installations, a valve box can be placed over the valve to provide access to the valve, so it can be opened or closed from ground level by means of a valve extension stem and two inch square nut. The invention will be secured to the valve extension stem and mounted inside a position indicator adapter.
Whereas valves installed underground are typically buried with a valve box, installations in a water or wastewater treatment plant can come in many different types. The four most common installations are: floor box, floorstand, motor operator, and extension stem and nut for valve wrench.
On order forms, the customer typically must specify “direction to open” either CW (clockwise) or CCW (counterclockwise). All of the valves in a municipal water system either open CW or CCW. For example, valves in Akron and Cleveland open by turning to the right (CW) and close by turning CCW. However, the cities of Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson open by turning CCW and close by turning CW.
A typical epicyclic gear system will usually consist of at least one planet gear, or “outer gear,” revolving about a sun gear, or “central gear.” Also, some systems may integrate the use of ring gears, or “internal gears,” having inward facing teeth that mesh with the planet gear teeth. Although there are many epicyclical gearing setups used to transfer input rotation into output rotation, the gear ratios are almost always contingent upon the number of teeth on each gear that is used, and also upon which gear is held stationary, or “fixed.”